2004 Subaru Impreza WRX

2.0L, Red, [Similar car shown]

Driven: 2004
Place: Auckland, New Zealand
Context: Mates Car

Memory byte:
A mate at one of the Agencies I was using at Vodafone lived not far from me, and one day he chucked me the keys for the drive north out of Auckland. Even though this wasnt the STi, the bonnet scoop and rear spoiler were bigger than I expected. It had the nice burble and felt pretty well sorted.

2004 Nissan 350Z

3.5L, Black, [Similar car shown]

Driven: 2004
Place: Auckland, New Zealand
Context: Press Car

Memory byte:
The second opportunity at the AA came in the form of a choice of 3 cars, and seeing the 350Z I immediately grabbed the keys and was off. Although not really getting to put it to any really serious corner work, on the motorway it was well behaved. The driver centric cabin was so cool, and the huge rear strut brace just behind your head was something you would never forget. I did find the V6 a bit lumpy and un-responsive at low revs, which could have been the fact that this one hadnt got many kms on it yet.

2004 Audi A3 3.2 Quattro

3.2L, Yellow, [Similar car shown]

Driven: 2004
Place: Auckland, New Zealand
Context: Press Car

Memory byte:
Whilst working at the Automobile Association (AA), there were a couple of occasions where I got to drive cars. This was the first, and boy did the Audi pack 'heat'. Cramming a 3.2 V6 engine into the small A3 body was quite a feat, and combined with the Quattro four-wheel drive system and DSG gearbox it was amazingly quick off the mark. The DSG gearbox is a marvel of technology, making changing gear a pleasure rather than the pain it could be in some 'tiptronic-esque' cars.

Unfortunately it was Yellow, but I couldnt hold that against it. I think the steering was a little on the dull side but everything else made up for it.

1994 Ford Fiesta 1.1L

1.1L, Red, [Similar car shown]

Driven: 2003
Place: Heathfield, East Sussex, UK
Context: Borrowed

Memory byte:
We got back to the UK one Christmas and ended up staying with my mother in law, which was always a pleasure. We borrowed her car a few times to go and visit peoplem, and I recall it was hard going back to a car without power steering. It seems such an alien concept now. It was not very good at much apart from delivering fuel economy.

1995 Honda CR-V

2.0L, Metallic Green, Reg: BMM640 then MY SB

Driven: 2003-2007
Place: Orewa, Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand
Context: Owned

Memory byte:
We had existed on just one car, and the plan was to buy something more 'multi-purpose' for off-roading etc, then sell my Legnum. Anyway, we got a good deal at Turners auctions and BMM640 became my wifes car, although the Legnum stuck around and we ended up keeping it too. The thing about the CRV was its capacious interior into which you could fit an inordinate amount of gear, plus it had a picnic table in the boot.

We loaded it up and went camping many times, complete with roofbox and sometimes a surf board or kayak. It delivered good fuel economy too, whilst the ride was smooth and it was good on gravel roads and beaches.

1997 Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4

2.5L, Metallic Blue, Reg: APQ786

Driven: 2002-2006
Place: Orewa, Hibiscus Coast, New Zealand
Context: Owned

Memory byte:
Having come back to the first garage we had stopped at in Albany, we noticed they had a Legnum VR-4 in the corner. Wow, I remember thinking, it would be awesome to have one of those. During the test drive it felt much quicker than the GTB, but some of that would have been down to the V6 and the torque. Well, we bought it and over the years it was a great family car. It was tiptronic too which meant that you could do a bit of manual work if you wanted.

Fitted a big bore muffler, new stereo, Ralliart lower strut brace, Evo 4 lightweight mags and had it de-catted too. Best memory comes from punting it around Pukekohe Race Circuit, reaching 180km/h on the back straight.

1997 Subaru Legacy GTB

2.0L, Silver, [Similar car shown]

Driven: 2002
Place: Albany, North Shore, New Zealand
Context: Test Drive

Memory byte:
Having arrived in NZ I'd always wanted to drive one of these twin turbo motors. Sadly it needed to be Auto so I think from memory it was down about 20bhp on the manual version. It certainly handled well and was quick, but I thought it would be faster. Loved the flat-four engine and 4wd, plus it even had two sunroofs. Sadly the guy was asking too much and was a bit of a 'dodgey dealer', so we left that one well alone.